4. Commodus would step into the arena and fight as a gladiator, charging the Roman Treasury a fortune to see him take on disabled slaves
Commodus wasn’t just happy to watch fights in the Colosseum, he wanted to play the part, too. But first, he needed to practice. So, he would regularly invite slaves to his home to help him. None of them wanted to beat the Emperor. To do so would humiliate him and be a literal death sentence. However, Commodus was only too happy to kill his sparring partners. To him, they were disposable tools. Quite simply, if you were summoned to the Emperor’s home to help him train, the chances are you weren’t going to leave there alive.
Even though he practiced with regular fights, Commodus was never skilled enough to step into the arena without having the odds stacked in his favor. When he did fight, he fought disabled gladiators, including dwarfs and those missing limbs. He would also be positioned on an elevated platform, giving him an advantage. Even when he was out-skilled in the arena, no gladiator was allowed to lose to the Emperor. So, inevitably, all his opponents died, giving Commodus the ego-boost he craved. However, he charged the Roman Treasury a massive 1 million sestereces each time he fought, crippling the economy.
